Best of

the Twin Cities

Best Actress

Shelby Richardson

Every so often, a performer comes along who brings such complete conviction that she exerts a gravitational pull, transforming our understanding of everything else happening onstage. Such is the case with Shelby Richardson, whose casting can make any show a must-see. Richardson had two especially powerful performances last year. In Theatre Novi Most’s The Seagull, she brought such heartfelt sincerity to the part of Nina that she freed the rest of the cast to make hay with Chekhov’s comedic side. In Basic Instinct 1.1, independently produced in the tiny White Page Gallery, Richardson played the lead role in a transformative reimagining of the Sharon Stone role. The show, which grew out of a solo sketch by Richardson, repeated the film word-for-word and shot-for-shot — but with the male characters entirely removed. With technical precision and bold resolve, Richardson turned an unlikely premise into one of the most compelling shows of the year.